The past week has been scorchingly hot in Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and other cities in the West. This morning I read an article in the Times about people who have to work outside in the heat, along with the continuing growth in the population of Phoenix. Housing prices and increased rent are causing some poor people to lose their homes.
Stories about the effects of climate change are becoming more and more common. It's difficult to imagine how this plays out in the next couple of decades.
Will places like Phoenix eventually become less popular, if the temperature consistently reaches 115 degrees during the summer months? Surely the growth of the Southwest can't continue forever, if the situation continues to worsen.
What policies will various levels of government establish to mitigate the effects of changes in the climate?
What does this level of heat do to plant life? The article mentions that areas surrounding Phoenix are already desert. Are there trees and flowering plants in the irrigated and watered areas that have survived so far but will not last through sustained temperature changes?
